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1.  “Egypt – Cradle of Self-Organization
he warned us, Here Comes Everybody. An era defined by self-organization is an equal opportunity disrupter. No institution will be unaffected. Any government not reflecting the will of the people isn’t sustainable. Equally unsustainable are education systems not reflecting the will of the student, health care systems not reflecting the will of the patient, corporations not reflecting the will of the consumer, and economies not reflecting the will of the entrepreneur. Our social systems and institutions need transformation not tweaks. Clay Christensen taught us that institutions do not disrupt themselves. Institutions will not lead the inevitable 21st century transformation, self-organized groups of committed and passionate people, like the crowds in Tahrir Square, will.

In an era defined by self-organization trading off democracy for stability won’t work. Institutions are designed for stability. They are designed to protect the status quo. They are designed to resist change and are allergic to even the hint of transformation. They are not designed to reflect the will of citizens, consumers, students, patients, and entrepreneurs. Institutions served us well in the industrial era but are not serving us well in the 21st century. We are now capable of self-organizing into purposeful networks that can bring about the transformation we want. We are just figuring out how to use our new network power. We are just figuring out we don’t have to wait for institutions to lead the way. The shift of power away from institutions will be messy. Entrenched institutions will not go quietly into the night. Transformations begun will inevitable have unintended consequences and we will have to learn as we go but there is no turning back. It isn’t transformation that is impossible it is sustaining the status quo that is impossible.”
http://www.business-strategy-innovation.com/wordpress/2011/02/egypt-cradle-of-self-organization/

2.  Good:

“Amid Arab protests, U.S. influence has waned

In days gone by, it was pretty much guaranteed that any demonstration in the Arab world would feature burning American flags and a blazing effigy or two of the U.S. president.

At the pro-democracy demonstrations on the streets of Cairo and elsewhere, references to the United States have been conspicuously absent, a sign of what some analysts are already calling a “post-American Middle East” of diminished U.S. influence and far greater uncertainty about America’s role.

For just as burning flags are not part of the current repertoire, neither are demonstrators carrying around models of the Statue of Liberty, as Chinese activists brought to Tiananmen Square in 1989. Middle East activists say they avoid references to the United States as a political role model for fear of alienating potential supporters, said Toujan Faisal, a veteran democracy campaigner in Jordan who has been advising young protesters in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

“I don’t think America appeals to the younger generation,” she said. “I’m cautious not to present them with the American example because there’s a negative attitude to America, a disappointment.”

…

That Egyptians are now at the head of the region’s long-suppressed demand for democratization comes in spite of, not because of, the United States, Khouri said.

“Nobody’s listening to America anymore,” he said. “It’s become irrelevant.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/03/AR2011020306882_pf.html

3.  “Police Brutality in the USA: Americans, Too Are Oppressed

Police in the US now rival criminals, and exceed terrorists, as the greatest threat to the American public.  Rogelio Serrato is the latest case to be in the news of an innocent person murdered by the police.  Serrato was the wrong man, but the Monterey County, California, SWAT team killed the 31-year old father of four and left the family home a charred ruin.

The fact that SWAT teams often go to the wrong door shows the carelessness with which excessive force is used. In one instance the police even confused the town’s mayor with a drug dealer, broke into his home, shot dead the family’s pet dogs, and held

the mayor and his wife and children at gun point. But most cases of police brutality never make the news.

Most who suffer abuse from the police don’t bother to complain.  They know that to make an enemy of the police brings a lifetime of troubles.  Those who do file complaints find that police departments tend to be self-protective and that the naive and gullible public tends to side with the police.
…

Why are the police so aggressive toward the public?

In part because their ranks attract bullies, sociopaths and psychopaths. Even normal cops are proud of their authority and expect deference. Even cops who are not primed to be set off can turn nasty in a heartbeat.

In part because police are not accountable. The effort decades ago to have civilian police review boards was beat back by “law and order” conservatives.

In part because the police have been militarized by the federal government, equipped with military weapons, and trained to view the public as the enemy. “

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23076

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